


Pieced Together

by Internal_Screaming, Luposphere



Category: Marvel (Comics), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gems, Fluff, M/M, Mostly Fluff, small cameo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 18:56:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11857629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Internal_Screaming/pseuds/Internal_Screaming, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luposphere/pseuds/Luposphere
Summary: Peter Parker, a Red Beryl from Homeworld, has been living on Earth ever since the end of the rebellion. He grew to like humans and befriends them every so often, but fears the day that the Diamonds may send someone after him. Then he meets Wade Wilson, a horribly cracked Bloodstone. Questions arise, who is this gem? How did he end up like this? Why does he avoid so many of Peter's questions? Is Peter slowly falling for this gem?





	Pieced Together

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to Luposphere for beta reading and editing this work and to cloudinmy-head on tumblr for the amazing artwork! (Which I will put the link to them on tumblr in the bottom notes!) I greatly appreciate it and I am so glad to have been able to work on this story with both of you!

Peter looked out the window, a familiar tingle nipping at the back of his neck–– a tingle that in the past, had warned him of the presence of other gems, a useful ability which had saved him multiple times in the past. He scanned the streets below, trying to identify the hidden gem. This was the third time in the past week that it had gone off, which concerned him enough to have any things he had grown attached to packed away in case he needed to flee. 

Continuing to scan the busy crowd below, his eyes suddenly landed on an odd figure who was standing across the street from his building, a figure who suddenly looked up and locked eyes with Peter. He yelped and stepped back from the window, and the man seemingly grinned, but it was difficult to tell from the distance. The tingle in Peter’s head started to turn into an intense vibrating as the stranger approached the building, which gave Peter the indication that this was the gem who was scouting the area. 

Peter quickly grabbed his prepared bag and dashed out of his hotel room, slamming into the stairwell and storming up towards the top of the building. He should've fled the moment he first sensed this gem, and now Peter was cornered. He slammed the door to the roof and continued to dash towards the edge, freezing then whipping around when he heard the door behind him slam shut. The gem stood a good twenty or so feet away, but he knew better than anyone else, that it was possible for certain gems to cross those distances in mere seconds. Peter jumped on  
the edge of the building and the other gem suddenly cried out.

"Wait! I just want to talk!" He yelled. 

Peter stood still for a second, scanning over his options. "That's what they all say before they attack me! You're no different! I won't go back! Not after what they tried to do!" Peter called in response, twisting and leaping off of the edge. Pulling down his sleeve to reveal a Red Beryl gem which shimmered in the moonlight, summoning a string like substance that shot across the city and stuck building to building, allowing Peter to swing safely to the ground and away from the Gem which he was sure was from home world. 

He stared at the top of the building and saw the gem looking down at him, his expression impossible to identify. The hat and hood on the gem made it close to impossible to see what he looked like, much less identify what gem he was.

The only other gems he had ever encountered on earth were corrupted, and a fleet of gems who were sent after him, which he managed to poof, bubble, then send them and their ship on autopilot back to where they came from. Sometimes he questioned if it was a good idea to do that, as they now knew where he was, but he didn't have the heart to shatter them or keep them stranded in a bubble on earth. He was never incredibly important, but Red Beryls were hard to create.

He stopped walking suddenly, chewing his lip nervously. Should he have stayed behind and proofed that gem? What if he hurts the inhabitants of this planet? The humans were odd with short lives and weird customs but most of them were kind and unique, Peter even managed to befriend some of the humans throughout his years. As sad as it was to watch them grow old and pass, it was hard not to continue to meet new humans and befriend them. It was quickly learned that it was how humans worked and cannot be helped.

"Hey!" Cried a voice from behind him. The tingle suddenly spiked at the back of Peter's head and he turned around to see the gem gaining on him. How did he find him so fast in this huge city?! He was at the top of the hotel, he had to run down to the bottom floor and even from there, someone from home world would never be able to figure out how to work through a city!

Peter turned into an alley, then hid behind a dumpster and waited as the gem walked past him, who then paused in confusion of his sudden 'disappearance'. That's when he jumped out and pinned the gem against the wall hard enough to prevent him from trying anything. "Who are you? What do you want?" Peter growled.

The gem suddenly grinned, "Just wait a minute Red! I'm not one of those home world brain dead soldiers! I've been on Earth since before the rebellion! I just wanted to meet one of the other gems who for once isn't corrupted! No need to get so physical!" Peter glared him down.

"Impossible, anyone here from before the rebellion is corrupted! I know from the reports, not to mention I've seen them here and there! You don't look corrupted, therefore you're lying!" Peter growled. The gem huffed in annoyance, then slowly began to lift his arms, which Peter’s gaze suddenly flickered to the movement which made the unknown gem stop.

"Look, just let me show you, alright?" He pleaded. Peter stared him down hard, then let him go and stepped back.

"Fine, but don't try anything! I have had plenty of time to figure out how to defend myself on this planet, I won't hesitate to fight back!" Peter scowled, the gem only nodding in response. The gem continued to remove his hat and jacket, revealing his gem and his face, causing Peter to gasp.

The gem was a Bloodstone, more than that, a cracked Bloodstone. His physical form seemed to be staying intact despite the crack, but it was incredibly disfigured. His entire head and what seemed to be the rest of his body being covered in scars. The odd thing about the scars was that they were moving, constantly changing and forming anew in a different place like his body couldn't decide where to put them.

Peter released a breath he didn't notice he was holding. "Alright, maybe I believe that you aren't one of the homeworld soldiers... but that still doesn't explain why you're stalking me!"

The Bloodstone stared at him and began to laugh, a quiet chuckle at first, but then it escalated to hard laughing, which he had to take hiccuped breaths between. "Y-you have no idea! No idea how long it's been since I've seen another gem! Years! Decades! Centuries! I'm not sure since this planets sense of time is confusing, but it's been so long! These humans don't last long enough, they always die too quickly... heck, I was starting to question what I was myself! I may have been surrounded by people but I've... I've just been so... lonely! I saw you awhile ago and I thought I was hallucinating again! I wanted so bad just to run up to you then and there! But then I got scared that you might run off and disappear. Which you almost did tonight... so I thought to just follow you instead! Discreetly, of course. Then I found the structure you were staying at! After that-" the Gem rambled.

"Hold up! Stop! I just want to know what you want!" Peter interrupted. The Bloodstone stopped, then looked at his feet.

"Well... I... I want a friend... I've been... I've been alone for a long time. Everyone I know... well they're gone... and I saw you and thought... I have finally found someone who I can actually have a conversation... and has a pretty face," the gem mumbled the last part while kicking his feet. Peter blinked, then felt his bleeding heart get squeezed a bit. He couldn't leave what seemed to be a confused gem out here. Who knows what he's done, or what he'll do.

With the most dramatic sigh, Peter hung his head in defeat. "Alright, alright. Since you don't seem to have any place to stay at, and I've never really met a Bloodstone before, I shouldn't be too quick to judge."

"You mean it Red? Truly and surely? Pinky promise? Cross your heart? With a cherry on top?" The Bloodstone rambled.

"YES! And please don't call me Red, I've picked up the name Peter on this planet. Peter Parker," Peter sighed.

"Well, I've also picked up a name! Wade! Wade Wilson! Human names are pretty fun! But I think I'll keep calling you Red! Peter seems so... unoriginal. Also, it's a good nickname for you!" Wade grinned.

"Please... just... just Peter," Peter whimpered but saw it was quite clear that Wade the Bloodstone had his mind set on the new nickname. Which he had begun to make up a song about, causing Peter to just drop the subject. "Alright, I'll take you to a friends place, since I had to check out today anyway. I guess I'll just bring you along."

"Oooo! Like a road-trip? Did I hear friends? More gems? Is there a Ruby? Or maybe a Jasper? OH! How about a Quartz? Those guys are fun!" Wade laughed.

"No. HUMAN friends," Peter corrected.

"Humans? Why humans? Humans do a thing where they get old and die. Like when you shatter another gem but it's... natural?" Wade stated while tilting his head.

"Well, they're more interesting than that. The fact that they have such a short time to live makes them what they are, they all want different things and... well they get to choose what they want. It's difficult to explain but I enjoy their company," Peter explained while scratching the back of his head. Wade only frowned.

"But they come and go! What's the point of befriending one if all it's going to do is die on you one day?" Wade asked.

"Because they are worth spending time with. Well, most of them anyway. Like I said, I enjoy their company... and I like enjoying things that aren't things that I need to do. That I'm not built to do. Just... things that I like to do... you know what I mean?" Peter said while turning his gaze to the gem.

Wade only frowned some more. "It still doesn't make sense, but alright Red! You like humans, you human loving rock!"

Peter turned his gaze away as Wade continued to ramble about something he saw on a 'human technology box' which Peter couldn't figure out how to decipher. Or understand. Quickly he realized that his usually short trip to Johnny's place was going to be a very long trip. A trip in which he is going to need to explain why he has a cracked and possibly slightly insane gem with him. Who was now talking about something called 'Golden Girls'? Yep, a very good explanation was going to be needed.

\-----------------------------

"Let me get this straight... you brought back your stalker?" Johnny yelped. Peter looked at the wall kicked slightly at the ground in embarrassment.

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds bad," Peter murmured.

"That's because it IS bad! You don't invite your murder into your house for tea because you feel sorry for them! You slam the door shut in their face!" Johnny exaggerated, pacing slightly.

"I couldn't just leave him! He is really badly cracked and I have no idea how he is still managing to stay together, I'm sure there must be some way to help him!" Peter argued.

"You and your bleeding heart," Johnny sighed.

"I don't have a heart," Peter stated bluntly.

"It's an expression Pete, we've been over this like, twenty times!" Johnny said, failing to hide a small smile.

Something shattered in the room next door, as well as a very loud 'SHIT' was yelled. Johnny looked at Peter and raised an eyebrow. "He's not my lost gem, you have to clean up after him. And I'm seriously hoping that wasn't one of Reed's experiments or, god forbid, one of Ben’s collector items. Better hurry up too before M.J arrives."

Peter quickly scurried away from Johnny and entered the from which the crash was heard. Wade was looking sheepishly at Peter while holding an armful of broken pieces from what remained of whatever he broke. "I- um. Well. I didn't like how it was looking at me," Wade quickly explained before turning his head away. Oh, he must've broken one of Reed's experiments. Those were the only things that had anything close to eyes.

Peter decided not to fight the gem about how breaking things were wrong and pointed at the counter. "Just put the pieces there, and try not to smashing anything else?" He pleaded.  
Wade nodded enthusiastically, placing down the pieces he gathered then following close behind Peter like a lost puppy. It was weird, this gem had lived on this planet longer than Peter, yet for some reason, he still didn't know what a lot of modern earth things were. Did he avoid contact with humans for all his years living here? If he did, why was he in the city that night? What changed if he was avoiding humans? Not to mention he figured out Peter was a gem pretty quickly, was it so obvious he was a gem? Or is there more to this gem he didn't know about!  
Something deeper?

At that moment, Wade managed to lodge his foot under the carpet and send himself sprawling onto the ground. It took all of Peter’s willpower not to roll his eyes or laugh, maybe he was just over analyzing everything. He didn't want to admit that he was really excited about meeting another non-home world gem since that meant he might be able to interact with another gem who wasn't always thinking about the diamonds or their job. Not to mention his growing curiosity of how the gem managed to be cracked so terribly, and still keep his physical form intact. It could be a Bloodstone thing, maybe they were all just super resilient.

"Hey Red!"

Peter jumped in surprise and turned back to Wade who was grinning with triumph. "I lost you there for a moment Red! Did you shut down or something? I called you like, three times maybe! Maybe ten times, I don't know, I'm bad at counting," Wade laughed.

"Oh! Just... just thinking. That's all," Peter replied.

"About what? I wanna know what goes on in that little head of yours!" Wade asked, getting a bit closer.

Peter stepped back while rubbing the back of his neck, "Nothing, really," Peter said while looking in the other direction.

"Nothing? Thinking about nothing? That's weird," Wade said as he tilted his head, but then shrugged. "Must be an earth custom!" With that statement, he turned and began to explore the building some more.

"Please! No more breaking things!" Peter yelled after him. Wade waved his hand in response and kept walking. Peter sighed and looked over at Johnny who was grinning so big, he couldn't tell where it stopped. "What?"

"I get it now! Part of you wants to help him because you have a bleeding heart, and the other half is because you like him!" Johnny laughed.

"Well he's a bit... odd, but he is kinda likable... in a way," Peter said blatantly.

"No, I mean LOVE like! You have the hots for him!" Johnny slyly grinned.

Peter felt his face burn up, which only happened a few times before. "What?"

"This better not be some weird love because he's the first gem you've seen in a long time though. That would be unhealthy," Johnny pondered.

"NO! He needs help! That's all! There's nothing else!" Peter stumbled.

"Oh, you and your excuses! I see the way you look at him! I see it in some of my many adoring fans! Heck, I saw it in your eyes when we first met! I was flattered!" Johnny teased.

The burning in Peters face intensified. Was he really that easy to read? Or was this just a Johnny thing? Either way, Peter quickly made his way to the kitchen, away from Johnny's all-knowing gaze. He just met Wade! He was just trying to help! Love was just too complicated of an earth concept... even if he did have it, how could he hope to understand it? Peter then noticed the unusual silence. That gem better not be doing something stupid.

\-----------------------------

Wade grinned as he was about to do something stupid. The building Red had taken him to was HUGE. It wasn't as nice as some of the gem structures he had found but it was still nice. He managed to find a very open room with a squishy soft thing that was very fun to jump on. So he thought it would be a great idea to jump from that weird hanging bowl on the roof to the squishy soft thing. Maximum bounce power! Of course, all the extra speed and height did was send him sprawling to the other end of the room and laughing in triumph. Who knew humans could invent such interesting things! Useless, but interesting!

Wade sat up and began to look around the room for his next great discovery, something that looked resilient. Mainly because he wanted to see if he COULD break it. He crawled over to the wooden box and began looking through it, tossing aside fabrics that didn't look that interesting. Something in the back of his mind told him that humans wore fabric over their body as they were modest about showing certain areas. That and they liked certain fashions or styles to attract different mates. Some of it could be true, but facts always got jumbled up in his head.  
Suddenly, he saw a deep red bunch of fabric glimmer in the depths of the box. He aggressively tossed all the other non-interesting fabrics out of the way and pulled the shimmering red one out and held it out in view. It. Was. GORGEOUS. 

A deep wine red that faded into a void-like black at the bottom. Black glitter was splattered in different areas making it all sparkle just right. A red ribbon separated the chest area from the rest of the flowing dress, the strap being one that was wrapped around the neck.  
Wade felt the dress call to him. 'Put me on!' It cried. He felt his grin widen, and that's what he did. He struggled to figure out how to properly put it on and flinched when he felt like something might snap or tear but he got it on. Upon reviewing himself in a reflective surface, he declared himself 'damn beautiful'.

He immediately dashed/stumbled out of the room to show Red his new look.

\-----------------------------

"So where is this new gem that Pete brought home?" MJ asked, peeking slightly under tables as if he was hiding there. Peter only sighed and looked around.

"He's somewhere. I told him he could go explore as long as he didn't break anything..." he trailed off.

"So what's he like?" MJ asked excitedly. She always seemed so eager to learn more about the gems when the topic popped up in conversations.

"Well, he's big, probably a heavy lifter type of gem... his gem is on his chest... not to mention it's pretty badly cracked. The weirdest part of that is that his form seems to be constantly shifting, or moving. It's... it's different," Peter attempted to explain.

MJ leaned back slightly and held a finger to her chin, deep in thought. "It's kind of hard to imagine..."

"It's much easier to just show you," Johnny laughed. "Go on Pete, go get your 'friend'!"  
Peter shot a glare at Johnny, who's smirk only grew deeper. Suddenly, the doors slammed open and the Bloodstone dashed into the room, dressed in a deep red dress. "Hey Red! Look at what I found! I didn't know humans could make such pretty designs!" He cried. Peter was then tackled to the ground, a small squeak escaping him before he hit the floor with the bigger gem on top of him. "It looks good on me, yes?"

MJ and Johnny both burst out in laughter, Johnny's much more uncontrolled as he shed a few tears. "He certainly has character!" MJ managed to choke out between laughs.  
Wade looks from Peter to MJ, then back to Peter. "Who's the new human?" He asked, rolling off of Peter so he could stand up.

"That's Mary Jane, but we call her MJ," Peter introduced, patting dust off of his pants. "MJ, this is Wade the Bloodstone, I found him stalking me."

MJ took a step forward and held out her hand towards Wade. "Pleased to meet you Mr. Wade!" Wade looked at her extended hand, looking at Peter in confusion. "Oh right! Gems don't really know handshakes, do they?"

"Hand-shakes?" Wade asked as he looked at his hands. He slightly shook them then looked at MJ expectedly. She only giggled slightly and took his hand, shaking it to show him. His eyes then lit up in understanding, returning the gesture to MJ.

"He sure learns quickly!" MJ smiled. "So Wade, I heard you met Peter in a dark alley!"

Wade nodded and grinned, "Well it was actually on a roof of a building, but officially, we did meet in a dark alley!"

Johnny snorted a laugh, and Peter reddened in embarrassment. "If you need anything, Wade, don't be afraid to ask!" She winked, then proceeded to exit the building. "I'll see you three later, I have work to do!" She waved as she left.

"She sure has an open mind," Johnny grinned.

"Yeah, she does. Though she looked more worried when we first told her the story," Peter noticed.

"Dude, that's because she didn't meet him yet, he's like a giant lost puppy when you look at the events from a different angle!" Johnny explained.

Wade looked between Peter and Johnny, slightly confused once again. "Puppy? Are you talking about me?"

Both Johnny and Peter seemed to suddenly notice Wade in the room. Johnny then had an idea, and a smirk crept across his face. "Hey, Pete! How about you show Wade around? Take him to the top of Empire State Building, or some other cliché place! I'm sure he would love to learn about all our weird human stuff!" Johnny suggested.

Peter glanced at Wade who had perked up at the mention of his name. "What's this Empire State building?" He asked.

Johnny suddenly nudges Peter at Wade, who stumbled slightly beside him. "Pete will show ya! Isn't that right Petey?" He smirked.

Peter knew exactly what Johnny was trying to pull, he'd seen it happen in a lot of earth movies he had watched. Yet, it wasn't a bad idea to show Wade around and try to figure out where he came from, and possible figure out how he cracked his gem so badly. Not to mention, Wade was looking at him with the biggest, begging eyes. "Alright, I guess I could show you around New York-" Peter was never allowed to finish.

"Yes!" Shrieked Wade as he hopped around, seeming extremely excited. He wasn't that far off from a puppy, after all, Peter thought. "Can we go now? Right now?" He asked, getting over-excited.

Peter looked to Johnny for help, but all Johnny did was shrug and grin. "I don't see why you guys can't! It's not like gems have jobs or anything."

"So... can we?" Asked Wade once more.

"Alright," Peter sighed in defeat.

"Hooray!" Wade cheered.

\-----------------------------

Wade leaned half of his body over the edge of the Empire State Building, staring at the long drop to the bottom with amazement. "Humans built this? How come it's not falling over and crushing them all??" He asked, leaning back from the edge and looking at Peter.  
Peter, who was leaning on the thick cement barrier, looked over at Wade. "Well, they have an explanation on the inside as people wait in line, but since I kind of just, 'swung us up here', we missed that exciting part," he said, scratching his neck. He remembered waiting in that line when Johnny first brought him here. He quickly assumed that Wade would hate waiting in such a long line.

"Oh! Must be complicated based on the bored look on your face," he grinned. "Unless... well unless I'm boring you?"

Peter suddenly jolted upright and turned to Wade, panic fluttering through him. "Of course not! You're not boring me! Buildings just never caught my interest! Well, other than the view on occasion. They tend to make me zone out, and MJ told me I look bored when I zone out but really it's just my mind blanking! I don't mean that YOU'RE making me space out! It's just something I do-!"

Wade burst out laughing, leaning farther over the edge of the Empire State Building. "You're cute when you're flustered!" He giggled, wiping away a tear.

Peters felt heat rush to his face and he turned quickly away, pouting. "I-I'm not-!" He muttered but quickly shut up. Wade continued to grin as he turned his gaze back to the city, which Peter looked over and followed. They both stared out at the flickering lights of the city, lighting up the darkness of night. "Wade?"

"What is it, Red?" Wade asked, looking over to him, still grinning.

"How come you never came to the city before now? What was your life like?" He asked.

Quickly, Wade turned his gaze away from Peter, frowning. Just as quickly as he did so, he looked back, grinning from ear to ear. "I've been meaning to ask! How did you meet those two humans? I've always loved origin stories!" Peter frowned as well, noticing his quick change of subject, but gave a small smile to Wade anyways. 

"You mean MJ and Johnny? Well, I met MJ first... She started taking pictures of me because she said I looked 'photogenic'. She insisted on a lot of photos, eventually I accidentally let it slip that I was a gem by mentioning that her interest might because I was otherworldly. Usually, people would laugh, assuming it was a joke and such. But she got right into my face, pushing and pushing for more information until I told her I was a gem!" Peter explained, half laughing to himself. "She really knows how to interrogate someone until she gets what she wants!"

"I met Johnny a few weeks later, he was what people call a 'model'. Humans tend to like to show off attractiveness in different ways, Johnny wears fancy clothes and gets pictures taken so other people can... Enjoy his...beauty? It's a confusing thing but I like to compare them to pearls... In a way. Anyway, I kind of... Knocked him to the ground by accident. I was trying out an earth thing called 'photography', which is taking pictures of other humans or objects, and someone bumped me. Then I fell on him. After that, we officially met though MJ... Ever since, I've been exploring this city, checking out hotels and hanging around Johnny and MJ. His sister is married to a scientist named Reed Richards, who is nice enough, and a close friend known as Ben tends to live with them as well. All four of them had an accident about a year ago, Susan, Johnny's sister, lost the pigment in her skin in patches along her arms, making it nearly transparent. Reed got some intense stretch marks on all his joints as well as his neck and waist, Ben got some very nasty scars all over, making him look... Rough. And Johnny has a huge burn mark on his back... I'm sorry, I've rambled on and on! I'm probably boring you with these unnecessary details!" Peter flushed.

Yet Wade was giving Peter all his attention, then he leaned back and smiled. "You know, the way you talk about your human friends, it does make them seem more interesting. Maybe there is more to humans that I've never seen before." Peter slowly looked at Wade and smiled softly.

"Thanks Wade." They both stood in silence as the wind whistled past them. 

"I heard talk of something called a carnival tomorrow! Can we go see whatever that is?" Wade suddenly burst out. Peter jump from the sudden shatter of silence, then grinned at the idea.

"Of course! I've only been to one before, and it was a few decades ago, I'm sure it's changed since then," he said as cheerfully as possible. Wade's smile widened, and he continued his game of 'lean as far over the edge of the Empire State Building without falling'. Peter reminded himself that he had just met the gem the previous night, it took time to open people up. It took Peter a few centuries to get close to humans. After that though, it was easy to open up. Humans were very good listeners.

He turned his gaze back towards the view of the city, the sun beginning to peek out from behind the city. His only struggle was how long it would take to find out anything more about Wade.

\-----------------------------

They were early to the carnival, arriving just as it opened to the public. There was already a crowd of early risers streaming into the large area of entertainment. Mainly blurry eyed parents and jumpy, excited children. There was lots of noise as well, it wasn't this noisy and crowded back when he went to a carnival. Yet Wade seemed to thrive on it, he was just as excited and jumpy as the young children around them. He spun around with amazement, quite clearly trying to piece together what to do first and where to go after that. The excitement was contagious apparently, as he felt it rise in him as well. First things first though, he had to make sure the Bloodstone wouldn't get lost.

"Wade! Over here for a second!" He shouted over the crowd, then led Wade to the side of the main crowd. "Alright, we can stay as long as you want, but rules first!"

Wade groaned, rolling his eyes to the maximum extent. Did Johnny teach him that? "It's just a few rules! First, no attacking anything! That means no fits or whatever! Alright?" He stated.  
Wade crossed his arms and leaned back. "Pfft, what do you think I am? A peridot? Course I won't!"

Peter decided to ignore his 'too cool for rules' vibe and moved to the next rule. "Second rule is to hold my hand as to not get lost-!" Peter said, in which Wade instantaneously grabbed his hand and began to swing it cheerfully.

"That's a rule I can get behind!" He chirped. Peter sighed slightly but let a smile escape.

"Alright, then we are ready to go!" Peter grinned.

Wade let out a whoop of triumph and dragged Peter in a mad dash to the biggest, scariest, coaster he could find.

\-----------------------------

7 hours of dashing from one ride to the next. The rides varied greatly too, first it was the death coaster. Yes, it was called the death coaster. Peter did admit it was terrifying and crazy, making him feel incredibly nauseous even though he had not eaten earth food since the first time he met MJ and Johnny.

Apparently, Wade had noticed this and took him to the carnival game area, which he proceeded to nail every game to the ground with incredible skill. Whatever game he played, he wouldn't miss. Always on target. Even more, he seemed so relaxed as he did so like it was nothing. Then he caught Peter staring and began to mess up. It was incredibly obvious that it was on purpose. After that awkward moment, they went on more rides, some in which Peter had to sit out or risk the nauseous feeling taking over. When Wade began to lose interest in the rides, Peter decided to have him try some 'Unhealthy Earth Food'. Even though gems don't need to eat, he found some of the earth foods really good. So, he dragged Wade to the food area of the carnival and bought them both a cone of cotton candy.

Wade stared at the pink cloud with confusion, looking at Peter for any help on what it was. "You eat it!" He said, proceeding by taking off a chunk of cloud and putting it in his mouth. Wade's eyes widened in understanding, in which he then copied what Peter did and popped a piece of cotton candy in his mouth.

Then he froze. Standing there like he was frozen in the spot. He shivered, in which Peter saw the shiver start at the bottom of his feet and ended at the tip top of his head. "Wade?" Peter asked, growing increasingly worried with each passing second. He saw Wade’s left eye twitch slightly, then a grin grew on his face.

Before Peter could react, Wade had grabbed Peter's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "What. Was. That?" He asked.

"Uh-! Cotton Candy! A popular earth food at events like this! Made mainly out of... erm... sugar!" He stumbled.

"It. Is. Amazing!" He shouted, startling Peter slightly. He then began to jump around, asking a million questions and not stopping to listen to any answers to them.

Peter let himself relax in relief. He was worried he broke the poor Bloodstone. He walked over to the over-sugared gem and took his hand, causing him to stop immediately and look over. "Remember! Rule number 2!" He said cheerfully and directed the over-joyed gem over to the last straggling entertainment areas they had left to visit. Even though the crowd had mostly left already and there was no more worry about anyone getting lost anymore.

\-----------------------------

The sun shone weakly through the canopy of leaves in Central Park. Peter sat on a bench, enjoying the warmth of the sun as he watched Wade chase the geese and ducks, attempting to catch them. In which, most of the geese turned on him and began to chase HIM instead, honking and flapping their wings. It was a quick lesson to learn, don't mess with Earth geese. Yet Wade was stubborn, another quick lesson Peter learned. So he continued to watch the switching powers fight about who was chasing who, sometimes the geese managing to land a bite, and other times Wade managing to pick up the raging, flapping pile of feathers. To say the least, it was incredibly entertaining.

Still, something kept nagging at the back of his neck, keeping him from fully relaxing. It was faint but slightly familiar, what was that feeling again? It was incredibly hard to ignore. Like a drop of water constantly dropping on your hand at the same consistent pace, driving you to smack the water drop and move to a different spot.

Wade was now laying on the ground, the geese and ducks all sitting on him in triumph. That was when Peter felt it get stronger and recognition crossed his mind. It was that tingle, in the back of his head that warned him of other potentially dangerous gems.

Why was it going off? It doesn't go off around Wade, not since the Empire State Building trip. 

Unless...

Unless it wasn't Wade. He remembered hearing the television saying something about attacks in the park. By a large animal, they said. Everything went cold around him, and he slowly looked up into the trees. In it, sat a large and colorful... thing.

It was a corrupt gem.

That was the one thing Peter managed to think before it shrieked and dropped out of the tree, breaking the bench part beside Peter as he jumped out of the way just in time. He quickly rolled away as a giant crystal beak stabbed into the ground, right where he used to be. He aimed his gem at the beast and let loose the sticky web which wrapped around the beast, in which Peter then attempted to pull it to the ground.

The beast didn't even budge, but it did screech and began to flap its gigantic, colorful wings, breaking the webbing but still dragging Peter behind it as it was now caught on its leg. The gem zigzagged through the air, flinging and dragging Peter though every single tree in Central Park.  
It at least felt that way. Then a brilliant idea popped into Peter's head, he could just let go. Which he did. And fell into the stupid pond.

Managing to flail to the edge of the pond, he ducked as the creature dove at him, huge talons grabbing at him. Yet even as he ran, he couldn't stop thinking, 'Where is Wade? Is he alright?' 

He tried looking for him, but each attempt left him diving to the side as the bird creature tried to stab him or grab him. What if it already got him? Was his gem somewhere in the park? Or was it shattered?

Peter stopped thinking, refusing to think deeper into worse scenarios. Wade was fine. Wade was fine.

He tripped.

His face hit the dirt and he felt stinging pain. He flipped on his back just as a huge talon crashed down around him, pinning him to the ground. He struggled and tried to pull away from it, panic and fear building as he saw the beak rise, about to strike down on him.

Then he saw a sword. No. Two swords, stab through the 'face' of the beast. Everything froze.  
'POOF'

A cloud of smoke engulfed Peter, and he heard the gem hit the ground. He was still trembling, adrenaline coming too late. Or maybe it was fear.

The Bloodstone stood with his back to Peter, both swords gripped in his hands. Then he dropped them and they disappeared with a shimmer. Wade turned around a grinned, then walked over and offered his hand. "Saw you needed a hand!" He smiled.

Peter slowly nodded, then took his hand and stood up. He was still unable to stop trembling. Wade then put his arm around his shoulders, and the trembling stopped. He suddenly felt... safe.

Wade looked Peter over and frowned. "Oh man Red, you look like you are about to collapse!" He exclaimed. Peter then felt himself get lifted off the ground and yelped in surprise. "It's alright! Just gonna take you back to your human friends' house! There was quite a bit of crazy today," he chuckled.

Peter felt his whole body relax, he was exhausted from fear, then yelped in remembrance and turned back towards the gem Wade just poofed. "The gem! We need to bubble it!" He explained.

Wade frowned in confusion. "Bubble it?" He asked.

Peter jumped out of his arms and kneeled beside the gem and picked it up, then he formed a bubble around it. He tapped the top and it disappeared, going to Johnny's place, specifically, his room he was staying in.

"What did that do?" Wade asked.

It was Peters turn to look at Wade. "Don't you know how to Bubble creatures? It keeps them from reforming and causing any more trouble, I sent it to my room at Johnny's, a safe place," he explained. "What do you do when you fight a gem? Poof it and leave it?"

"I always thought shattering was the only way to make sure a gem doesn't reform," he said blatantly.

Peter felt his entire being go cold. Wade had such an innocent way of saying it like he didn't know better. But how could he think that destroying a gem was the only way? Wade was now looking at his hands, then he looked up at Peter. "Can you teach me how?" He asked.

The ice left his body. He just didn't know any better. "Of course, but let's get back to the building before I collapse from exhaustion."

\-----------------------------

Two weeks had already gone by since Peter thought it might be a good idea to allow Wade to stick around. The two gems had explored many popular areas in New York, both during the day and late into the night. Yet Peter was no closer to figuring out who exactly Wade WAS. He constantly tried bringing up the subject, asking about where he was before, or what Bloodstones are made to do. He even tried to figure out why Wade was originally on Earth.

Yet every time he did attempt to bring up the subject, Wade would be quick to change the subject, flipping the question on Peter instead or changing the topic of conversation entirely. He did manage to figure out that Wade's form was kept together with such a damaged gem based on his type of gem. When Peter got his focus away from the topic of the conversation, he asked Wade how he managed to keep his form so steady with such damage. Wade had replied without thinking, focusing on the new earth food called 'Ice Cream', saying "Bloodstones are stubborn suckers, we don't go down because of little things like 'cracks'." After realizing what he said, Wade had completely shut himself away from Peter, avoiding talking for a good few hours and refusing to make eye-contact.

Wade seemed so reserved, even if he didn't show it. While the Bloodstone would jump around and get excited quite easily, anything based on his life quickly shut him down, usually avoiding any contact or conversation until something new excites him once more.

This worried Peter, and his worry grew with each day that passed. Wade was hiding something, and by the way, he would react, it wasn't something that was meant to be hidden. Peter knew from experience that withholding something that had damaged him was very dangerous, as it had nearly led him to corruption. When he told someone about all the guilt and pain, a lot of it had disappeared, leaving him to feel lighter. While some of it will always stay with him, he quickly realized that he sometimes needed to tell someone about his pain.

Wade was completely ignoring his pain, or at least, trying to. Sometimes, Peter even heard him whimpering when alone in a room, but if he heard someone approaching, it would quickly stop. The worst part of it all was that Peter knew exactly what this type of stubbornness was, and getting someone like him to open up takes effort and time.

Effort was the easy part, time, on the other hand, worried Peter more than anything had ever worried him. How long had he pent up all those emotions? Months? Years? Decades? Centuries? How much longer could he last?

"Hey Red!" Wade called as he strode up to Peter, grinning.

"Something you need Wade?" Peter asked, pushing his thoughts to the back of his head.  
"MJ told me about this amazing beach, and I was hoping we could go take a look!" Wade chirped. "She said there were cool caves and lots of seashells!"

Peter tilted his head slightly, "A beach? You usually like big flashy things."

Wade shrugged and grinned, "Well, she said there was a big flashy lighthouse near it!"

Peter frowned, attempting to figure out just why he suddenly wanted to go to a beach. He suggested it last week, and Wade brushed it off, saying it was boring. Now he suddenly wanted to go to a beach?

"Come on Red! It'll be fun!" Wade begged, tugging on his arm.

"Alright! Alright, I'll get directions from MJ, and then we can go check it out," Peter explained.  
Wade grinned, that ran off to do who knows what. It was possible that Wade changed his mind and was curious, he did tend to say he hated something, then turn around and do it anyway.

Just Wade being Wade.

\-----------------------------

The sunlight reflected off the clear water as the sun descended. A small breeze pushed tiny waves across the water before disappearing on the beach. The area seemed almost untouched by humans of any kind. Bright, soft sand was everywhere, short, dry bushes sticking out of the sand was scattered along the beach. He saw a crab scatter into the water as Wade and Peter approached its hiding spot.

"MJ was right, it's way better when the sun is setting," Peter smiled, enjoying the warm breeze and salty smell of the sea.

Wade nodded, grinning. It was odd, he wasn't saying anything, and usually, you couldn't get him to shut up for longer than a few seconds. What was he up to?

Then he stopped. "Hey, Pete, let’s sit down here."

Pete? He didn't call him Pete, he always called him Red, even if he decided to argue about it. 

"Wade, is everything alright? You just called me Pete," Peter asked.

"Everything's fine!" Wade chirped. "I just thought I would try it out for a bit!"

Peter looked at Wade, slightly confused as he sat down in the sand, then he sat beside him, trying to catch his eye. When Wade made it clear he wasn't turning his gaze from the sunset, Peter let his own gaze wander to the setting sun as well.

"How did you end up on this planet Peter? Beryls usually stay on homeworld, they are the scientists," Wade asked, not looking at him. Peter looked down at his feet, unwilling to tell the tale, but he felt the need to tell him. They may have only been together for a short amount of time, but secrets hurt friendships, and he didn't want to hurt this growing friendship with Wade. 

Taking a deep breath, he explained his side of the story. "It's true that we are scientists, we help research which soil will produce what gem, and the quality of the gem. We also had... Extra assignments... Ones I didn't question, but didn't enjoy. When Earth was discovered, the soil samples were incredible. So many high quality gems could be made, the planet was a start to the golden era of Homeworld. Then the revolution started, the Diamonds needed something to crush the rebels..." Peter paused, shivering at the memories. "They wanted us to..." He clutched his stomach and pushed down the rising images. "The wanted us to fuse together shattered gems to create weapons..." Wade still didn't make any sounds. "I couldn't take it, those shards had remnants of gem minds in them, they were in pain! At this point, the rebels won and everything was in chaos, so I destroyed the lab and ran, knowing earth was the safest place to hide... The place the Diamonds feared. I took my time to get there though, traveling through space and taking detours..." Peter let out a sigh. "I've been here ever since." He looked back at the sun which didn't seem to have moved an inch during his seemingly long backstory.

Both of them sat in silence as the sun crept closer and closer to the water, the silence seeming to make the sun move faster, then Wade spoke. "Bloodstones are made to be resilient because our jobs are dangerous..."

Peter looked over to Wade, confusion rolling around his mind at the sudden statement, but Wade's face remained cool and emotionless. So Peter turned his gaze back towards the sunset as Wade continued.

"The very first Bloodstones were created because of the rebellion on Earth. There was so much chaos, they needed something new to control it. So they made us, to control the rebellion. To get rid of the leaders," he declared. Peter felt his body freeze. Get rid of? Did he mean... did he mean shatter? "Three of us were made, three stone cold assassins, given three targets to eliminate. I was supposed to destroy a Bismuth on their side, my other comrades were after a fusion and the leader herself, Rose Quartz. They failed, destroyed in battle. I never found my target, I searched but she was either already gone, or lost."

Peter sat in silence, trying to process this new information that Wade was suddenly giving.  
"The rebellion kept going, and I tried to fight for what I thought was right. Then something happened, everyone was in a frenzy, something horrible had occurred. There were terror and fear, I was scared because I had no clue what was going on... I was already cracked from battle, then I fell. There was white. Lots and lots of white..." he trailed off. Peter had heard about that, it was the corruption. If Wade had seen it, did that mean...?

There was a choked sob and Peter whipped his head towards Wade. The Bloodstone was sobbing, tears rolling down his cheeks as he muffled his crying in his hands.

"I'm corrupted," he half laughed, half sobbed. "I've been corrupted ever since that day. I've managed to fend it off, partially because I'm a Bloodstone, but partially because I was already insane. Then I met you. And... and I started to slowly become more insane, then less insane... It's taking over Pete. I can feel it taking over... I don't want it to take over because I'm finally where I want to be," he rasped.

Peter finally understood why his skin looked like it was always moving. He understood why it would frenzy every so often, that part was the corruption. The corruption that was now growing bigger and more permanent, ceasing its movement. As it did so, his form was changing and shifting as well. 

"No..." Peter whispered, crawling over to the gem and holding him in his arms. "No, you can't be corrupted! I just met you! There's so much more of the world that you have to see!" Peter cried. 

He felt his own tears spill down his cheeks as the thought of never seeing that goofy grin crossed his mind. He had grown so accustomed, so close to this gem in the past few weeks. It was a short amount of time but he felt like it was forever.

Wade smiled softly, the corruption already claiming most of his body. "You really like me that much? You always looked so annoyed with me around," he whispered.

Peter choked out a laugh,"That's just how my face looks."

Wade suddenly changed from light humored to fearful, "Peter, please don't let me hurt anyone... I- I don't want to but I won't be able to control it, please," he begged.

"Wade, I can't-" Peter tried to argue, but the gem grabbed his arm and looked at him with desperation.

"Please."

Then he began to wither as the corruption finally took control. He fell out of Peter's arms and shrieked, rolling in the sand and clutching his head with corrupted arms, spikes growing along his spine and arms. His entire body changed, shades of red and black blotching his body and dropping him on all fours. The creature before him loomed up tall, six legs stomping down on the sand as thick claws dug into it to try and get a grip on the ground. Its neck was long, and its head was staring straight at him. Its thick tail flicked to the side, balancing the creature. The eyes were a pale milky white, a black splotch around each of its eyes.

'This isn’t Wade anymore, it can’t be,' Peter thought as he looked up at the creature. But the milky eyes held a fear, the same fear he had seen before the corruption took over. Yet there was also an animal-like confusion, something that doesn't mix well with any kind of fear.

Wade shrieked again, then lunged at Peter who had to dive out of the way. "Wade! It's me! Peter!" He yelled at him, but he took no notice as he lunged at him again. Peter rolled out of the way that time, splashing into the water. Frantic thoughts passed through his head, a way to fix him. Help him. He just needed to get into his head. But how? Wade wouldn't listen, or at least he couldn't. If corruption was only that easy to fix.

Wade lunged at him again and Peter jumped, landing on his neck and clinging to it as Wade shrieked and attempted to shake him off. Then something crossed his mind.

Fusion.

He heard rumors about mixed gem fusions and how they merged minds in a way, making a new gem with two. That's how he could get into Wade's head.

What if it went wrong?

Could corruption spread?

Wade screeched once again, whipping his head around in another attempt to fling Peter off.

He made up his mind.

He clung tighter to the corrupted Bloodstone and thought of everything they had done together and everything they had been through in the past two short weeks.

He thought of the Empire State Building and its incredible view, he thought of the carnival they visited and the earth food that Wade inhaled while he laughed at the bits of cotton candy stuck to his face and fingers. He thought of the corrupted gem that jumped them in Central Park, the skill he used to poof the beast and bubble it. He thought of the stupid dress Wade found on the first day he met him, his surprise when Wade tackled him to the ground and the warmth he felt whenever Wade would brush against him.

Everything shone and he felt everything fade to white. Then he was standing in a white room, when he looked around, he saw Wade curled up in the corner.

"Wade!"

Wade shifted, then turned his head, his form shaking and twitching in different directions. "Peter?"

Peter ran, he ran towards his Bloodstone and dropped beside him, hugging him hard. "You're not allowed to leave me like that."

"Y-you can't be here!" Wade yelped, pulling away from him. "You'll get corrupted too! Look it's already happening!"

Sure enough, Peter’s own form began to glitch, but he clenched his fist and looked at Wade, stubbornness filling his gaze. "I'd rather be corrupted with you than perfectly fine but without you."

Tears welled up in Wade's eyes, and he clung to Peter, sobbing into his chest.

They wrapped their arms around each other, laughing and crying as the world around them frazzled and frayed. Wade was the first to make a move and plant a long, heart-warming kiss on Peter's lips. 

And they sat there in pure happiness and joy as they merged into one.

\-----------------------------

"It was a fusion?!" Pearl yelped, looking at the two gems that lay in the soft sand. "Is that even possible?!"

"Apparently it is, since we just fought it," Amethyst yawned.

Steven walked over to the gems and crouched beside them. "Do you think that they were like Garnet?" He asked.

"I guess, maybe?" Pearl guessed.

Garnet shifted her glasses, a gleam shining off of them. "If they were, we probably shouldn't separate them," she stated.

Steven smiled her way and looked back at the gems, maybe one day he could help them too.

He picked them up, bubbling both of them and sending them to the temple. He made sure they were beside each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out the amazing art! As well as the proper credits to the Artist and Editor!
> 
> https://that-one-mod.tumblr.com/post/164407313679/pieced-together-9194-words-by-luposphere


End file.
